Our experience in working with David Avilla when adopting from Ukraine… We were thinking about adopting for years, but could not make a move, terrified of the process and not knowing where to begin and whom to trust. But just nine months after meeting with David Avilla, we brought our daughter home from Ukraine!

The most valuable service that David provides is bringing the orphaned school-aged children over to meet the families. Once you meet the children, interact with them, look into their eyes – there is no going back. We fell in love with our daughter during one of those trips in the summer of 2008 and jumped head on into the adoption process.

Little did we know we hit the jackpot twice: not only we found our daughter, we also found a very honest, dedicated, and knowledgeable team of people in David’s organization.

From the very beginning, David was always honest and upfront with us about the process and the expenses involved. All the costs were exactly as David outlined in the beginning of the process – there were no surprises. David provided detailed step by step instructions on how to complete all the required paperwork. The amount of paperwork is daunting, but with David’s system which gives you samples and templates of all the paperwork and clear and detailed guidance as to what to do and when – it becomes quite manageable and can be accomplished in record time. We give David the highest praise for generously giving us his time, always being available and ready to listen to our fears and concerns (often unfounded), always encouraging us, and providing a shoulder to lean on and a friendly ear to vent our frustrations (not with David, but with the length and complexity of the process).

One of the biggest assets that David’s organization has – is their Ukrainian partner. These are the people who are working behind the scenes on your behalf long before you meet them during your travel to Ukraine. These people know how to work the system and have the right connections to get things done and done quickly. Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is that without the right people on the ground in Ukraine, nothing (or very little) can be accomplished. When we actually traveled and met with David’s Ukrainian partners – they are courteous, dedicated and professional. But most importantly, we could observe first-hand how their knowledge and connections made the process run smoothly and completed in record time. What by most accounts should have been a nerve-racking and gut-wrenching experience almost seemed like a vacation. We felt safe and completely taken care of.

Everyone’s experience is unique and different. Every case and every family have their own unique challenges. David does not control the process, nor does he pretend to be in control of it. From the very beginning he was very honest with us about the uncertainly of the process. He never sugarcoated the truth and never made any guarantees to us. And though we were terrified of making emotional and financial commitments without having any guarantee of what a final outcome would be, we appreciated David’s direct approach and his honesty. The truth is – everyone going through this process will have to take emotional and financial risks! Not even David’s Ukrainian partners control the process, though they are working tirelessly to minimize and/or avoid any possible obstacles. Most of the time, you are at the whim of some government bureaucrat or Ukrainian domestic politician. Though most families are successful in accomplishing their goals, rules can change at any point and it may leave some families heartbroken.

Despite all of the uncertainty, if you choose to navigate through this complex and treacherous process, David and those he works with are reliable, knowledgeable and trustworthy partners. I would recommend working with David to my friends and family without hesitation.

“…we had given up the idea of adopting until we met David Avilla of Advocate for Orphans International.”

My husband and I had wanted to adopt for many years. One of our previous adoption attempts took us all the way to Kazakhstan, and unfortunately we returned home empty handed. After that experience we contacted many other adoption service providers, and we felt that we could not trust any of them. After many unsuccessful attempts we had given up the idea of adopting until we met David Avilla of Advocate for Orphans International.

David was able to earn our trust immediately. It is not difficult to believe in David’s intention after learning that he and his wife adopted five siblings from Russia. David is a man of God. That was what we kept telling each other and convinced ourselves to go through the adoption process, and we were right. Thanks to him we are now the proud parents of a wonderful boy that we adopted in 2008.

One important feature that David’s service provides is the hosting opportunity for the prospective parents to spend time with the children at the parents’ house. We are so glad that we went through the hosting program. We originally hosted a different child that turned out not to be the right match for our family. After one week we were able to host a boy with whom we had the right chemistry, and we ended up adopting him. We are very grateful for this opportunity. If it was not for the hosting program we would not have met the right match for our family.

The path to a successful foreign adoption is long and arduous. The amount of paperwork and the bureaucracy at both ends is cumbersome. There are many unknowns throughout the process, particularly in the foreign country. It is not uncommon for the parents to get frustrated and be worn down by the process. David had an open door policy when it came to listening to our complaints and frustrations. He counseled us with his calm demeanor and tried to help us in many ways. This was truly above and beyond what adoption service providers are supposed to do. He arranged many telephone calls between the prospective parents and the foreign facilitator to get clarification on our numerous questions. David was genuinely interested in helping us to go through the process as smoothly and painlessly as he could.

David also kept in touch with us while we were in Ukraine. He was following our blog and was available any time that we needed him. Some issues came up recently nearly one year after our adoption, and David helped out even though he had no obligation to do so.

In fact since our adoption we have remained in touch with him, and we send him updates about our son. He is interested in seeing how the children develop and grow after they arrive here. We admire David for what he does. What a great deed to help find homes for orphans who would otherwise end up on the streets.

Although the facilitator in Ukraine may seem pretty rough at times according to our standards, he knows his job well and he was able to get us out of the country in a short period of time. The bureaucracy in Ukraine is unbelievable, however he navigated us through the process very smoothly. When we were there an issue came up that he was able to resolve immediately while other families had to stay there for 5 or 6 extra weeks to resolve a similar issue.

We would definitely pick David if we decide to adopt again. We are very glad that we used David and would recommend him to other people that are adopting. In fact every time David brings a group of children to the US, we let our friends know of the children and his program.

The adoption process can be overwhelming, financially and emotionally. It is wise to work with someone who not only knows in great detail what is necessary from the US side and the foreign country, but is also sympathetic to the personal goals of couples wanting to grow their family. David Avilla has supported us in all ways and he knows the ropes: he and his wife have adopted five children. He is generous with his time and stays in touch every step of the way, offering guidance with the enormous paperwork process and encouragement in a journey where no two experiences are ever the same.

NEW YORK — The number of foreign children adopted by Americans plunged more than a quarter in the past year, reaching the lowest level since 1996 and leading adoption advocates to urge Congress to help reverse the trend… read more

A new study challenges the widespread belief that orphans in poor countries fare best in family-style homes in the community and should be put into orphanages only as a last resort. On the contrary, the care at orphanages is often at least as good as that given by families who take in orphaned or abandoned children, the new research finds…

…The question of how best to care for orphans is urgent and becoming more so, because the numbers are huge and growing. Worldwide, an estimated 143 million children have lost at least one parent… read more

“We all remember the question that the adults used to ask to us. “What do you want to be when you are an adult?” Looks like there is nothing more natural and widespread than dreaming of your future profession. All children dream. Do you still think so? I had a possibility to get acquainted with the children that are not asked such questions. They think that it is just stupid. How can one think of dreaming, when he needs to find something to eat, a place to spend a night at, to fight off the same people as the he is that also consider the place to be their? Waifs and strays have said goodbye to their childhood a long time ago, they are now doing the adult business…”

“…After the talk with Liana I was experiencing the shock. How many children will she manage to give birth to, that will be exactly such unnecessarily homeless as she is? How many kids would demonstrate their first steps, first smiles to the nurses of “Solnishko”, but not to mom and dad? What’s the problem? In the lack of money for contraceptive? Or just in the indifference to their own fate and the fate of the children? Liana is not the only woman who acts so, who gives birth to the child and then gives them away. There are the champions in it, who born 11 children (!). This chain of actions is passed from one generation to another. The people who finished the orphanage but didn’t succeed in their life give birth to absolutely the same people, that exactly repeat the parent’s life…” Read more